


Search & Rescue

by VampirePaladin



Category: Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Kidnapping, Post - Game, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 05:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/pseuds/VampirePaladin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rorona, Cordelia and Lionela head to the National Mines to collect ingredients.  When Lionela goes missing it is up to Rorona and Cordelia to find her, with some help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Search & Rescue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KannaOphelia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KannaOphelia/gifts).



> This is set post Rorona but before Totori. It is written to be compliant with both games without having any spoilers for Totori. Esty is a playable character in Atelier Meruru and in the rerelease of Atelier Rorona.

Rorona stepped back from her cauldron. The large spoon she used for stirring rested lightly in her hand. Eyes were focused on the yellow liquid. The first bubble broke the surface. That was what she was waiting for. She turned the bottle of supplement upside down and letting its contents fall in. The liquid instantly turned a bright green that slowly shifted to blue as the last drops hit the surface. She shook the glass jar a few more times, just to get that last bit out. A puff of smoke hopped into the air. Rorona took a quick jump back, if she had breathed the smoke in she would have been choking for ten minutes. She pushed a window open with the clean back end of her spoon. There was nothing left to do now but to wait.

She walked over to Hom and looked over her shoulder. Her fingers moved swiftly and expertly at her own alchemical work. While Hom could not do synthesizing as complicated as what Astrid or even Rorona could do, what she did she did faster than either of her masters.

“You sure are fast at making supplements, Hom.” 

“Thank you, master,” she said as she added another bomb to the pile.

“There has to be at least fifty of them.”

“One hundred eighty-nine, master.”

“I didn’t think we had enough materials for that many.”

“This is the last one. We do not have any more materials left.”

“But I just came back from the National Mines a week ago. My basket was full of new materials!”

“I have already used all of them to create bombs.”

Rorona sighed. She had forgotten to tell Hom to only make twenty supplements. Without a specific number the homunculus would keep going until she used up everything in the shop.

“Hom, why don’t you just take a break for a while.”

“Very well, master.”

Rorona smiled at Hom. “I’m going out.”

“Will you be needing anything when you come back?”

“No, you can do whatever you want.”

Hom nodded. She could spend time with the cats and kittens without it interfering with her duties. Of course Rorona knew exactly that is what Hom was going to do. She had seen the homunculus play with her cats on more than one occasion, sometimes even abandoning work to be with them.

Rorona glanced over at her own work. It could be left alone at this point. The fire was low, almost dead and the cauldron needed to cool down. She could definitely go to the Sunrise Café as long as she didn’t stay there all day.

“Hom, I’ll be going out for awhile.”

If Hom replied then Rorona didn’t hear it as she shut the door behind her. The sun was bright and the breeze was cool. She skipped down the street, staff in hand. If her nose was right then today’s special was roast beef. With her free hand she pushed the door open, swinging it wildly back on its hinges, almost slamming into the wall. 

“What’s for dinner, Iksy?”

“Hi Rorona,” Iksel said from behind the counter.

“Hey,” Cordelia said. She was sitting at the table with a thick book in front of her. Her eyes were fixed to the page as they slowly read.

“What are you reading, Cory?” Rorona said as she plopped onto a chair next to her best friend.

“I’m reading about the rules and regulations for adventurers.”

“Isn’t that what Esty does?”

“Yeah, I’m going to start working with Esty.”

“That is amazing.”

“There are so many people doing requests that it is becoming too much for just Esty to handle by herself. I mean have you seen the type of problems the adventurers cause? Especially that Gisela.”

“Oh, speaking of adventures, would you want to come with me to National Mines? I need to get some more materials.”

“Sure, I could use a break away from studying.”

Iksel walked up to the girls with two cups of black tea in hand. He set one down in front of either of them. 

“What about you, Iksy?”

“No can do, I have too much to prepare for tomorrow. I’ll be lucky if I get any sleep at all tonight. But, I can pack you a meal to take with you.” 

“Really? Thank you, Iksy,” Rorona said.

“It’s no problem, besides I have some scraps that I need to use up.” 

“So are we going alone or are we going to find someone else to come with us?” Cordelia asked. She lifted the warm, off-white cup up and took a somewhat ladylike sip from it.

“I’m pretty sure we can manage on our own. I mean we’ve been doing this for years now. Besides, I think almost everyone would be busy.”

“What about Lionela? She isn’t involved with government business like the others are and she isn’t as creepy as Astrid is.”

“She left again.”

“Lionela did? When did that happen?”

“Oh no, not Liona, I mean master left.”

“Well, good riddance. Your alchemy shop is better off without her.”

“But she did teach me how to be an alchemist.”

“That isn’t teaching,” Cordelia slammed her empty cup onto the table. “She threw a bunch of books at you and made you take over her shop and if you didn’t then you both would have been banished.” Even after all these years Cordelia still did not particularly care for the lazy alchemist.

“Come on, she isn’t that bad.”

“No.”

Rorona sighed, “So how about I go get Liona and you wait for the picnic. We could meet outside of the gates?”

“Sure, I’m fine with that.”

Rorona pushed herself away from the table and stood. Her still full cup of tea was sitting there. Grabbing the handle, she downed it in one gulp. She left Sunset Café with a spring in her step. It was going to be fun gathering materials with her two friends and maybe one day Cordelia would see the very, very hidden occasional good side of Astrid.

It was harder to see the sun in the factory district, not that Rorona noticed. She was too busy humming and looking for Lionela. If Rorona remembered correctly then around this time of day Lionela would be hanging out in the alleyway behind the cloth factory rummaging for scrap fabric to repair her clothing.

“Liona,” Rorona called out.

“I’m over here,” came the muffled reply.

Rorona turned the corner to find a bin of garbage. The top layer of it was shaking and then moving. A blonde head popped out. It was soon followed by the rest of her body. Random scraps of cloth were stuck all over Lionela’s body with a particularly large chartreuse piece resting on top of her head.

“Cory and I are heading out to the National Mines. Do you want to come with us?”

“I thought you just went there?”

“Hom used up all of the ingredients making supplements.”

“I don’t know, Rorona. I really need to make enough money to replace my clothing. People just aren’t tipping as much for my shows anymore.” After knowing each other for years Lionela just did not feel comfortable asking for money anymore when they went to collect ingredients together.

“Oh, I know, I can synthesize some cloth for you from the components we gather and then have Hagel make you some new outfits.”

“Really? In that case I will come.”

Lionela held out a hand to Rorona. Rorona grasped it and gently pulled as Lionela pushed off from the inside. She climbed up and over, sitting foot on the paved ground. Rorona picked the scrap off of Lionela’s head and threw it back into the bin with the rest of the garbage.

“Come on, Cory is waiting for us.”

“We’re leaving right now?”

“Yep.”

The two walked down the cobble stone streets side by side. The character of the city itself changed as they passed through the different neighborhoods. Voices from the market rose up into the air, intermingled and then redivided like light going through multiple prisms until it formed a new whole that felt like both one voice and many at the same time. The smells of delicious baked goods and the wretched stench of many humans living too close together were hard to tell apart from each other.

Rorona looked over at Lionela. There was something different about her. It wasn’t her hair, it was in the same twintails as it always was in. The ribbons holding it were different, but that wasn’t very unusual. Her clothing had more patches in it than it did last time, but again that wasn’t very unusual as Lionela would keep using clothing until it was nothing but patches or until it just got so damaged that she couldn’t salvage it anymore. No, there was something else. She knew it was one of those things that once she figured out what it was that she would be mentally kicking herself for not noticing. 

Rorona kept on glancing over and trying to figure out what was different as they approached the city’s main gate. Cordelia was there, sitting on a barrel. She waved at her approaching friends and the two young women waved back.

“So, Rorona did drag you along to join us. Where are Aranya and Horoholo?”

“Oh, so that is what was different about you, Liona. I knew something was off but I couldn’t figure out what it was.”

“They wanted to stay home today. They think I should try doing things without them. I’m kind of nervous, but I’m getting better at it.”

“That’s great, Lionela.”

“I’m so proud of you, Liona.”

“I wouldn’t normally leave the city without them, but if it is the two of you then I think I’ll be okay.”

“We’ll be back before you know it. With me around, neither of you have anything to fear,” Cordelia said with her hands on her hips.

“Cory has gotten much better at using guns. She doesn’t even bring her bodyguards with her anymore when we leave the city.”

“Really? I remember when Cordelia used to flail her fists at the monsters.”

“Hey, don’t bring that up. I’m not the same little girl anymore.” She spit out little like it was a curse of the highest order. Cordelia had not grown an inch since the day Rorona took over the shop, while Rorona and Lionela had both grown taller.

Rorona put a hand on Cordelia’s fist. “I know and both of us will be counting on you to protect us while we are in the mines.”

Cordelia looked at their smiling, encouraging faces before grinning. “Well, I’ll have to show you everything I’ve got.”

The three set foot outside the gates, following the roads. There were signs that told them how to get to National Mine but after so many years of traveling together none of them needed to even glance at them anymore. They spent most of their journey talking and laughter followed them.

“Well, here we are,” Codelia said.

“I mostly need components for bombs. We won’t need to go too far in to fill my basket.”

Rorona led the way in with Cordelia and Lionela flanking her sides. The ghosts and demons here were no match for the three of them. Cordelia was showing off her gunslinging skills. Lionela took care of ones that got too close with ice magic and very rarely healed minor injuries. Rorona just did whatever needed to be done. She attacked with bombs when several monsters were bunched together, but otherwise she just used her staff to hit the ones that got too close to them. They began joking between the three of them and not taking things seriously.

A black, ceramic jar with a white cloth covering the top landed on the ground in front of them, shattering into pieces. Smoke slithered out of the remnants and started to expand. 

“What is that?” Lionela asked, looking back and forth.

“I don’t know,” Cordelia said.

Rorona wasn’t listening to either of them. She had her satchel open and was digging through it with both hands. Her staff had been dropped onto the ground.

“I feel kind of…” Lionela fell to the ground, asleep.

“We need to stay away.” Cordelia fell to the ground.

Rorona was still digging, looking for something to counter the sleeping effects when she passed out next to Cordelia.

 

There was a pie. It was bigger than Rorona’s cauldron. It smelt delicious, better than the best pie she had ever synthesized. She could not have stopped the drool even if she wanted to. 

Rorona approached the pie. It sat there innocently. That pie did not suspect a thing. If this pie could talk, and some pies could, it would probably be humming a random tune that wandered from song to song without any pattern to it. When Rorona leapt upon her delicious prey it would have been surprised before a skilled fork stab silenced it forever.

“Rorona, wake up.”

“Tastes like heaven,” Rorona mumbled.

“Rorona, you need to wake up.” 

An earthquake rocked the pie, which slowly began to fade away into nothing. Rorona blinked her eyes open. It was a struggle to focus on Cordelia, whose face was very, very close to hers.

“Aw, you could have waited until I ate the pie.”

Cordelia let go of Rorona’s shoulders. She rose to her feet as Rorona managed to push herself onto her own.

“That was a witch’s salve.”

“So that was another alchemist?”

“No, that was one of mine. I’ve been filling lots of orders for them lately. Hey, where is Liona?”

“She was already gone when I woke up.”

“Something might have happened to her. We should go look for her.”

“I knew you were going to say that. Alright, we’ll divide the mine up and search separately. When we are done we meet up back at the entrance.”

“Alright, be careful, Cory.”

“If there is anything in here then it isn’t going to take me out. I’ll be ready for whatever or whoever it is this time.” Cordelia drew her gun, keeping it pointed at the ground as she walked away.

Rorona pulled a fireless torch out of her bag and turned it on. Not only was the fireless torch made with alchemy, but she had actually created the recipe herself. She called Lionela’s name over and over. She left no corner unturned, blowing up boulders and rubble when she had to. There was nothing except for a pin that she had lost two years ago. She put it in her bag. Rorona felt slightly guilty, but as she searched she filled her basket. Even though her friend was missing, there was still the need for more materials. What if Lionela was hurt and Rorona had to synthesize something to heal her and couldn’t because she was out of ingredients? Plenty of ingredients were everywhere to be found, including some of the best quality glow grass she had ever found in the National Mines, but there were no street performers.

When Rorona returned to the entrance it was with her shoulders drooping. She wasn’t really lifting her feet up as high as she should, letting them scrape against the hard floor and making a slightly unpleasant sound. There was no one at the entrance. Rorona sat down on a large rock, her staff at an angle and resting against her shoulder with the heavy part behind her. 

Rorona jumped to her feet when she saw Cordelia approaching, “Did you find her?”

“No, I didn’t find anything.”

“But we searched everywhere. She has to be somewhere.”

“If we didn’t find her in the caves then she isn’t in them.”

“How do you know? There could have been a rock slide or a monster could have eaten her or something.”

“Well, we would have seen signs of a cave in, like the path being blocked or lots of dust on the ground.”

“It still could have been a monster.”

“No, there really isn’t anything here that poses a challenge to any of us and Lionela can heal herself if she is hurt. Even if she was eaten we would have found some trace like scraps of clothing or flesh.”

“So that means Liona must have left the cave. We should go look for her.”

“But why would she leave without us?”

“Well, she could have been scared of something or something could have taken her. She wouldn’t abandon us. Cory, we have to go look for her.”

“I know. We should look for a few hours and if we don’t find her we should go back to Arland.”

“We can’t just leave her out her.”

Cordelia sighed, “If she went somewhere else on her own it would have been back to Arland. If something took her and we don’t find her in a few hours then we won’t find them at all. Neither of us are trackers or scouts. We’d just be flailing around in the bushes.”

Rorona didn’t want to admit it, but Cordelia was right. “Alright, but let’s stay together this time. If we split up they might capture us both.”

Together they did the closest approximation they could come up with for a methodical search. For two amateurs they didn’t do too poorly either. They found deep footprints in mud from big, but human, boots and a red kerchief.

“This is Liona’s.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, I was there when she bought it. Tiffani gave her a discount.” Rorona folded up the kerchief and stored it away safely in one of her bag’s inner pockets.

“Come on, Rorona, we have to head back now.”

“I know.” She looked around one last time, her eyes slowly sweeping over every twig and rock, before she turned and followed Cordelia back to the road.

If the trip to the National Mines seemed to take half the time then the trip back to Arland seemed to take twice as long. They stopped part way there to eat the food that Iksel had packed for them. While at one point the food obviously must have been delicious, it was like stale bricks now. By the time they dragged themselves through the city gates it was well into the night. Cordelia never even made it back to her own home. The two passed out on the couch of Rorona’s workshop.

Rorona woke up the next morning. She yawned and stretched her arms out but stopped when her left arm hit something warm. Sleeping next to her was Cordelia. The two of them were covered with a pink and green patchwork quilt.

“Good morning, my darling Rorona,” said a familiar voice from the door.

“Master!” Rorona tried to get off the couch, got tangled up in the quilt, fell to the floor, untangled herself and hopped to her feet.

“The two of you were just sleeping so adorably that I couldn’t bear to wake you up and ruin the moment,” Astrid said. She was the one that covered them with the blanket.

“Master, Lionela has been kidnapped.”

“Oh, has she now? I’m not surprised especially when you consider what she is.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. Lionela is Lionela. There has to be some way to find her.”

“I’m sure there is,” Astrid said as she started to turn toward the door. “I’m leaving town again and I am taking Hom with me. I’m sure you don’t mind.” Astrid walked out the door and shut it behind her.

“Master, wait,” Rorona called after her as she rushed to the door. When she opened it Astrid was nowhere in sight. “She always manages to disappear so fast.” 

In the distance she could see the castle above the buildings. Esty would already be up and working. Rorona should probably stop by and check to see if there were any jobs she could pick up. 

That was it! The jobs!

Rorona was so used to just going in and checking for jobs to do herself that it never occurred to her until just now that she could put in a job request for someone else to do. Rorona jumped down the few steps from her shop onto the street, slamming the front door behind her. She started to run. If she was lucky she could get there before any adventurers shows up. She ran right in through the front doors without slowing down. She only stopped when she was in front of the desk, panting and clinging to it.

“Good morning, Rorona,” Esty said.

“I need to put up a job request.”

“Alright, just let me get the form.” Esty searched through a few drawers before she produced a three page form and a pen which she placed on the desk in front of Rorona. “If you have any questions then just ask.”

“Thank you,” Rorona said as she picked up the pen. 

She began writing furiously. She filled in every line and answered every question with more information than she really needed to give. When she was finished she read everything over, crossing out a few things and rewriting them, before she handed everything over to Esty.

Esty began reading through the forms, making sure everything was properly filled out. After the last page she looked up from the papers to Rorona.

“I’ll personally make sure someone takes this one right away.”

“Thank you, Esty.”

“You’ve helped Arland a lot over the years. It’s only right that you get help when you need it in return. I’ll have them meet you at your shop today. You’ll be able to go look for Lionela right away.”

Rorona didn’t stay around to see who would pick up the job. She had to go get things ready back at the shop. There were a few things she needed to buy and a few things she needed to synthesize before leaving. She visited Tiffani, Hagel and Iksel to buy what she needed to from them. It would have been nice to buy from Pamela, but she had long ago moved her business to a fishing village in the south. When she stepped inside her shop Cordelia was waiting for her.

“Where have you been?”

“I went to put in a request for a strong adventurer to help us find and rescue Liona.”

“Oh, well, that’s good then. Here, take a look what I found,” Cordelia held out a book.

Rorona took it from her and began to slowly look through it. It was definitely an alchemy book, but one that she had never encountered before. It wasn’t an old tome or anything like that. It was probably only a few decades old. In fact, it looked like Astrid’s handwriting, though with how old this was it was probably written when Astrid was still a student of alchemy herself.

“Master always said she was a genius alchemist, but I didn’t realize she was making recipes when she was still a student.”

“I found it on the floor. I couldn’t read much of it, but it looks like it might be helpful.”

“It is! Cory, this is amazing. We can use Liona’s kerchief to synthesize a map that will tell us where she is. I need to get started right now if I want to get it done before we leave today.”

“Alright, what do you want me to do?”

“The recipe is complicated. I can’t leave it alone. I’ll need you to get things for me as I need them.”

“Alright, I can do that.”

The two grinned at each other as they began working. All the windows and the doors had to be left open to let the stench of the synthesis out. Rorona was always at the cauldron. Nothing could make her move away from it. Cordelia was constantly moving about both the shop and occasionally outside to find or buy what Rorona needed. All that hard work paid off, because by noon they held a map with a red x to the south, moving through the desert. 

“It looks like you two have been hard at work,” Esty said from the door.

“Esty?” Rorona looked up at her.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m the adventurer here to help you.” Esty wore a coat over her normal clothing. She had a pair of matching swords at her side.

“What can you do?” Cordelia looked Esty up and down.

“Hey, I was a knight and I was higher ranked than Sterk.”

“Well, at least you’ll be more reliable than that woman,” Cordelia said.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Esty said. She didn’t seem to be offended by the comment.

“We’re already ready to go,” Rorona said.

“Then lead the way,” Esty said, stepping aside for Rorona and Cordelia to leave the building first.

The three left town together. Rorona and Cordelia were in the front, talking to each other and watching the open map. They did not even notice when they walked by Astrid. Esty nodded to her as she adjusted her glasses.

 

The three women walked into a village by the sea. It was a small village. Everything smelt of fish and ocean. There were only two establishments: a pub and a general goods store. It had a lazy and laidback feel to it.

“This is Alanya,” Esty said.

“It is so adorable,” Rorona said.

“Alanya is in the process of becoming part of Arland,” said Esty.

“Why would they want to do that?” Cordelia asked.

“Well, Alanya isn’t large enough to field a military or even a police force. It is entirely at the mercy of monsters. By becoming part of Arland they will be protected by Arland if something were to happen.”

“Well, I suppose that does sound mutually beneficial.”

“Rorona,” a female voice called out. A woman in a long red and purple dress had hugged Rorona without any warning.

“Oh, umph, hi.”

The woman stepped back from Rorona. It was unmistakably Pamela. She was not floating off the ground, she wasn’t wearing her normal clothing and she had legs.

“So, this is where you moved to,” Rorona said.

“I really wanted to see the ocean and look,” Pamela twirled, “Astrid made me a body doll I can possess and control as a going away present.”

“That’s wonderful, Pamela,” Rorona said with a grin.

“Hey, Pamela, do you know where we can get a boat?” Esty asked.

“Well, this is a fishing village, there are lots of boats.”

Cordelia held out the map that they had been using to follow Lionela. The X was on a small island off the coast of Alanya. “We need to get there.”

“Well, there is a fisherman who owes me some money. I guess I could call it even if he helps you.”

“Aren’t you going to ask us why we need to go there or anything?” asked Esty.

“No, I trust Rorona.”

 

Cordelia sat on the hard wooden bench of the fishing boat. The moon was bright overhead and the island was within sight. The only thing she could look at was Rorona. When had Rorona grown up? The last time Cordelia looked she had been this fourteen year old girl turned alchemist. Now, she was a grown woman and a master alchemist.

Cordelia fidgeted in her seat. Had she changed too? She wasn’t even an inch taller, she already knew that. Her old bodyguards didn’t need to accompany her anymore. She had also become a dangerous shot with a gun. Was she a woman now or was she still a little girl stomping around and puffing out her chest?

When she looked at Rorona draped in the moon’s light like it was a gown, she knew she wanted something. She didn’t know what it was that she wanted or what Rorona could give to her other than her friendship, but whatever this unnamed thing was, she wanted it.

“That’s as far as I go,” the fisherman said as they made landfall.

“Thank you,” Rorona said.

“We will need you to wait here and takes us back,” said Esty.

“Can do.”

The three turned toward the forest. Rorona had her staff in hand and was ready to grab from her bag at a moment’s notice. Cordelia’s gun was drawn with the barrel pointed at the ground. Esty stood in the middle with a sword lightly held in each hand. They walked forward together.

Most of the creatures that lived in the forest were sound asleep. The few that were out were easily avoided or were led away by Esty who would then double back and rejoin the other two. The three did their best to move quietly. 

It wasn’t a very large island, so searching it did not take long. There was a ruin in the middle. It was the last place unsearched. As they neared it they found signs that people were living here. There were ashes from old fires, trash and human waste. The whole thing smelt horrible and the stench grew worse the closer they got. They didn’t encounter anyone.

There was a light up ahead inside the ruins. Voices drifted toward the girls. One deep voice boomed above the rest. The words were clear but in a different language.

“I wish I knew what they were saying,” Rorona whispered.

“They are talking about sacrificing the witch,” Cordelia replied. “My tutor taught me this language. He said it was a dead one.”

“We need to hurry,” Rorona said.

Esty and Cordelia nodded. 

They ran into the central part of the ruins. There was a stone table in the middle with Lionela lying on top of it. A large man was next to her, with a knife grasped in both hands. The crowd around him cheered as he raised the knife over his head.

There was a gunshot. Smoke slithered out of barrel of Cordelia’s gun. The man stood still with a perfect circle on his forehead. He fell backwards.

The people turned toward the three women. They advanced as they drew weapons. There were eighteen of them. They might have stood a chance if they had twice that many.

Esty ran forward, lite on her feet. She slashed with her swords, faster than they could be parried. She jumped high above attacks and would bounce off of walls. 

Cordelia took careful aim with all of her shots. She had to be careful not to hit Esty. Cordelia wasn’t used to working together with someone that fast. She kept an eye on Rorona and Lionela. Anyone that got near either of them became her primary target. 

Rorona was not fighting at all. She had rushed to Lionela’s side and began to check on her, administering medicine to counteract the drugs that Lionela had been given.

In the end there was no one left standing other than the four women.

They helped Lionela back to the boat and from there they returned to Arland. The trip went well and nothing excited happened. 

Lionela was brought to tears that the three of them had gone to rescue her and she looked forward to being reunited with her puppets. Rorona had some paper and was brainstorming new alchemy recipes. Esty would tell them amusing stories about her little sister Filly. Cordelia spent the trip in thought.

She liked all of their friends. They were all very important to her, but Rorona was even more important. Sometimes she would feel just the tiniest bit jealous when Rorona was spending time with Lionela or Esty. 

It was only when they returned to Arland that Cordelia realized what she wanted from Rorona so badly. She wanted her heart.


End file.
